After more than two weeks of staying at the shelter for evacuees at Evraz Place in Regina, Vera Robillard was happy Tuesday after hearing that she’ll get to be closer to family.

“It was a big relief,” Robillard said of news that the Evraz Place congregate shelter will be closing.

Her, her four kids and about 200 other evacuees remaining at Evraz Place are expected to leave for Saskatoon today. Travel is expected to start at about 9 a.m. and be completed shortly after lunch.

Social Services and the Red Cross informed community leaders around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday of plans to close the congregate shelter, set up at Evraz Place for those displaced by forest fires in northern Saskatchewan. All registered evacuees at Evraz Place will be moved to one of two facilities in Saskatoon. Those with medical concerns staying at the University of Regina will remain there for now.

Social Services declined to comment Tuesday.

Robillard said she’s in no hurry to return home to Deschambault Lake, but is looking forward to reuniting with her sister in Saskatoon. Her mom, aunt and cousins, who stayed in the small community about 450 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, have been keeping her upto-date on the status of fires and air quality.

Robillard said Regina has been good to her family. While she’s looking forward to getting to Saskatoon, she’s not as excited for the drive.

“(My kids) aren’t too good with road trips because they get carsick,” Robillard said. “At least it won’t be seven hours. It was a long trip here.”

On Canada Day, a total of 1,600 beds brought Evraz Place to its capacity. In a Tuesday news release, a provincial government spokeswoman said Regina’s declining evacuee numbers show that some families are beginning to move north to be closer to their other family members and communities. However, lifting evacuation orders will happen separately as communities are deemed safe for return.

Mike Montgrand of La Loche said if it wasn’t for his 18-month-old son Mikey Herman, he would have stayed up north to volunteer as a firefighter. But, as a single parent, he said he had no regrets about being unable to help.

“I’m safe and he’s safe,” Montgrand said.

He’ll likely miss Regina when the two of them board a bus for Saskatoon, he said, but not as much as some of the other evacuees he had the opportunity to bond with since evacuees started moving into Evraz Place on June 29.

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